Steaks in the steakhouse

[golfadj]

First I must say I am not a connesour (sp) of top quality steaks

 

I have thought the quality of Carnival's steaks has been going down for awhile now.

 

In April had a cowboy steak (ribeye) in the Glory steakhouse and was very disappointed in it. My son had a boneless NY strip and son in law filet mignon and none of us thought it was what we had in the past.

 

This past week went to a Capital Grille steakhouse in Chicago near Ohare airport.

 

Ribeye was outstanding. Price for the steak itself (22 0z) was $ 45 with nothing else on the plate.

 

Is it reasonable to expect the same quality at the Carnival steakhouse?

[drosphot]

I would say yes but I also have to ask did you mention the quality of the steak on the Glory to the wait staff? If the quality of the Capital Grille steak was that of the one on the Glory would you have let the wait staff know?

 

We had the 3 course theater menu at the NYC Time-Life Capital Grille for $39 last year and thought it was comparable to all our CCL steak house meals, last weeks included.

 

I wonder if there's a different quality level expected/delivered for a pre-fix menu?

[PR0318]

I was on the Liberty in July, i had the ribeye with the rub on, I thought it was a good as any steak that I have had in a Vegas steak house. It had great flavor and cooked just the way I like. It was my 1st time in a Carnival steak house so I can't speak to the past.

[ohiogymrat]

I dont eat red meat, so cant comment on that, but in terms of quality of food across the board, I would never expect food on a floating ship to match the quality of a fine restaurant on land.

 

When people say the best tasting meal they ever had, was at sea, I question the level of restaurants they have visited on land.

[golfadj]

I would say yes but I also have to ask did you mention the quality of the steak on the Glory to the wait staff? If the quality of the Capital Grille steak was that of the one on the Glory would you have let the wait staff know?

 

We had the 3 course theater menu at the NYC Time-Life Capital Grille for $39 last year and thought it was comparable to all our CCL steak house meals, last weeks included.

 

I wonder if there's a different quality level expected/delivered for a pre-fix menu?

 

I would have returned my steak but the server disappeared on us for quite some time.

 

As a matter of fact took almost 25 minutes to see anyone to get the sides we ordered.

 

Took just about 3 hours for our dinner in spite of being the first group to arrive at the steakhouse.

 

Complained to the manager as we were leaving and she was less than helpful just saying she would speak to the server.:mad:

[popsec]

First I must say I am not a connesour (sp) of top quality steaks

 

I have thought the quality of Carnival's steaks has been going down for awhile now.

 

In April had a cowboy steak (ribeye) in the Glory steakhouse and was very disappointed in it. My son had a boneless NY strip and son in law filet mignon and none of us thought it was what we had in the past.

 

This past week went to a Capital Grille steakhouse in Chicago near Ohare airport.

 

Ribeye was outstanding. Price for the steak itself (22 0z) was $ 45 with nothing else on the plate.

 

Is it reasonable to expect the same quality at the Carnival steakhouse?

 

I'm thinking it was a problem with the Pride steakhouse. Recently our steaks in the steakhouses on various ships have been amazing....until the Pride. But we just got off the Glory and it was back to amazing. Who knows....?

[susie8862]

On the East Coast, we have Ruth Chris and therefore, I am spoiled. I love Rib-eye steak, prime rib....or a beautiful 8oz. Filet.

 

We also (although a chain franchise) have Longhorn Steakhouse, which I find exceptional for steaks.

[CharlesKru]

I would have returned my steak but the server disappeared on us for quite some time.

 

As a matter of fact took almost 25 minutes to see anyone to get the sides we ordered.

 

Took just about 3 hours for our dinner in spite of being the first group to arrive at the steakhouse.

 

Complained to the manager as we were leaving and she was less than helpful just saying she would speak to the server.:mad:

 

Out of curiosity, was there no one standing at the check in podium? Or no other waiters around?

 

If there is something wrong with my food, and I do not see my waiter in less than 5 minutes, I do not hesitate to get up and find some one to take care of it.

[golfadj]

Out of curiosity, was there no one standing at the check in podium? Or no other waiters around?

 

If there is something wrong with my food, and I do not see my waiter in less than 5 minutes, I do not hesitate to get up and find some one to take care of it.

 

In hindsight you are right we should have taken further action.

 

Actually took forever to get our entres and had to go find the manager to even get that done.

 

In a high quality restaurant one would never expect this to even happen.

[fergusonvt]

In hindsight you are right we should have taken further action.

 

Actually took forever to get our entres and had to go find the manager to even get that done.

 

In a high quality restaurant one would never expect this to even happen.

 

 

Do you have to sign something at the end of your meal in order for them to charge it to your onboard account?

[Greatescapes]

Being from cattle country where steak is always a staple of just about everyone's diet I would have to say that I too am spoiled. The steaks that I have had on the ships were you usually good but not great. Some of the best I have had were surprisingly in the MDR and usually the prime rib. I am not for sure it is worth the extra $ or not. I will more than likely give it another shot on Magic.

[golfadj]

Do you have to sign something at the end of your meal in order for them to charge it to your onboard account?

 

Yes and it gives you an opportunity to add to the tip that is included in the service charge.

 

First time we did not add to the tip. As a matter of fact if we could have reduced the tip probably would have done so.

 

Did get an emailed comment card on the cruise from Carnival and went into great detail as to our steakhouse experience but nothing came back.

 

We were having (and did have) a great cruise with our kids and grandson and didnt want to make a great issue over this.

[fergusonvt]

Yes and it gives you an opportunity to add to the tip that is included in the service charge.

 

First time we did not add to the tip. As a matter of fact if we could have reduced the tip probably would have done so.

 

Did get an emailed comment card on the cruise from Carnival and went into great detail as to our steakhouse experience but nothing came back.

 

We were having (and did have) a great cruise with our kids and grandson and didnt want to make a great issue over this.

 

Yeah, unless I was in a hurry to get somewhere else I probably wouldn't either but I bet if you got up and tried to leave they would come running over although by then they probably have your cabin number anyway.

[mrsd912]

On the East Coast, we have Ruth Chris and therefore, I am spoiled. I love Rib-eye steak, prime rib....or a beautiful 8oz. Filet.

 

We also (although a chain franchise) have Longhorn Steakhouse, which I find exceptional for steaks.

 

I've read so much about Ruth Chris that I desperately want to go to one sometime!

But I have to disagree about Longhorn. We've eaten there once and the food and service was horrible. Not only were our steaks extremely overcooked slabs of flavorless bricks, but both DH and I got very sick. I'm pretty sure if was the fried cheesecake (tasted like it had turned, or been left out of the cooler too long before cooked), but still.

Now just the commercials turn my stomach:(

[fergusonvt]

Being from cattle country where steak is always a staple of just about everyone's diet I would have to say that I too am spoiled. The steaks that I have had on the ships were you usually good but not great. Some of the best I have had were surprisingly in the MDR and usually the prime rib. I am not for sure it is worth the extra $ or not. I will more than likely give it another shot on Magic.

 

I hear you! The best steak I've ever eaten in my life was on a trip our West a few years ago. Nothing I've ever had on the East coast has compared except a Filet at a steak house in NYC a few weeks ago. There's good steak and then there's exceptional steak.

[cruiserNC]

I thought all the steaks we have received in the steakhouse have been very good quality so far. I hope your Glory experience isn't a trend.... I always thought our visits were like getting a 50% discount on what our local steakhouses would charge.

[jerrymac]

I had the filet in December on the Liberty. It was cooked to perfection, but was tastless. I worked for a foodservice distributer that had our own cut room. I can tell you the steaks in the steakhouse are no longer prime! My previous experiences have always been excellent prime quality!

[susie8862]

I've read so much about Ruth Chris that I desperately want to go to one sometime!

But I have to disagree about Longhorn. We've eaten there once and the food and service was horrible. Not only were our steaks extremely overcooked slabs of flavorless bricks, but both DH and I got very sick. I'm pretty sure if was the fried cheesecake (tasted like it had turned, or been left out of the cooler too long before cooked), but still.

Now just the commercials turn my stomach:(

Wow. That sounds awful....must be a very poorly run place. Yuck...that would have turned me off also. The one here is exceptional and I usually hate chains. This is how I feel about The Olive Garden. When I hear someone say they LOVE it....Ugh....:eek:

[golfadj]

Wow. That sounds awful....must be a very poorly run place. Yuck...that would have turned me off also. The one here is exceptional and I usually hate chains. This is how I feel about The Olive Garden. When I hear someone say they LOVE it....Ugh....:eek:

 

Olive garden is just not good Italian food. Sad that people actually think so.

[susie8862]

Olive garden is just not good Italian food. Sad that people actually think so.

Amen to that

[waldocruiser1]

Out of curiosity, was there no one standing at the check in podium? Or no other waiters around?

 

If there is something wrong with my food, and I do not see my waiter in less than 5 minutes, I do not hesitate to get up and find some one to take care of it.

 

So, when you go find someone, what do you say to them

 

"I am not happy with my steak, could you please find my server and have them spit on it a few times?" "We also need somemore toilet water, when you get a chance"

[waldocruiser1]

In hindsight you are right we should have taken further action.

 

Actually took forever to get our entres and had to go find the manager to even get that done.

 

In a high quality restaurant one would never expect this to even happen.

 

I wonder with all the cutbacks if the steakhouse is one of them (from employee side) that it is not a full time job now, but an extra assignment. So they don't really care about it, and actually hope to not do as good of a job, so they don't get put there in the future.

[PrettyBrownGirl86]

On the East Coast, we have Ruth Chris and therefore, I am spoiled. I love Rib-eye steak, prime rib....or a beautiful 8oz. Filet.

 

We also (although a chain franchise) have Longhorn Steakhouse, which I find exceptional for steaks.

 

 

I love Ruth Chris, it is my favorite place to go for steak, if I can't get there then I do enjoy our Longhorn's here as well.

[golfadj]

I wonder with all the cutbacks if the steakhouse is one of them (from employee side) that it is not a full time job now, but an extra assignment. So they don't really care about it, and actually hope to not do as good of a job, so they don't get put there in the future.

 

First few times going to steakhouse thought the waitstaff checked back with us too much.

 

This time service was just awful. To make it worse we had our 1 year old grandson with us and took the earliest reservation at 5 30 figuring they would get us out faster. Instead slowest service we have ever had 3 hours and grandson was long gone by the time the check finally arrived.

 

Very disappointed manager who knew service was terrible did absolutely nothing other than saying she would speak to waiter.

[Cruisegirl6]

Ok my opinion got to love cruise critic lol

 

Carnival has really cut down on its quality in steak in the MDR years ago you were able to get New York Strip then they cut back to Sirloin now its that flat iron steak well I gather next is skirt steak then cubed steak lol

 

I have to say dining in the Steakhouse (have done this on other cruise lines the Dream be our first Carnival cruise that offers us the steakhouse haven't experienced it yet to give my opinion) has got to be much better, the steaks have to be better quality than the MDR even if they not perfect as some of the fine steakhouses I have been to I not expecting that, I just want better quality than that flat iron steak. I am willing to pay for better...I understand Carnival giving the Steakhouse for those who not mind paying more and having better quality. We are booked so far on four evenings on the Dreams Steakhouse and so much looking forward to it only because we know we get better quality and selection than the MDR offers us.

 

I not think Longhorn has a bad product, for the cheap price its not bad and the steaks are decent for what you pay for, I find the Longhorn has better tasting steaks than the Outback. Ruth Chris is just an over rated steakhouse to me....its good to very good but far behind in excellence. Mortons Steakhouse is a chain also that I feel gives you a much better qualtity steaks/beef dishes. Captial Grill we have tried twice and we just not care for it. Their carpaccio has this odd seasoning on it and carpaccio not suppose to have anything other than maybe salt and pepper....the NY Strip and Filet is definately rated below Mortons to us. The two times we dined there both times the french onion soup was salty to all of us and my steaks both times were just good nothing better than that. We also sat down at Captial Grill twice...we drink cocktails and they took the wine glasses off our table and back into the nearby storage cabinet, well upon sitting my father in law and I used our hands to move the glass away a bit...those glasses came out just less than 15 minutes from that cabinet to the table right next to us where the people drank wine from...those glasses should of been washed! The second time they did the same but we didn't actually witness any waiters taking out those glasses while we were there giving to other customers, but you sure bet they were somewhere that evening. We also found both times the service (two different location Capital Grills) was lacking when it came to us getting our cocktails. We never will go to Capital Grill, won't really go to Ruth Chris but we choose that over Capital Grill...we love Mortons Steakhouse.

 

I have dined in fine Steakhouses throughout the country my favorites are Peter Lugar in NY, Cut in Beverly Hills and Prime in Las Vegas. We not expecting this on Carnival but we certainly know we getting better than what we get in the MDR and to us 35.00 extra is nothing considering you go to steakhouses and pay $40.00 plus just for the steak!

 

I do expect to spend over 2 1/2 hours at the Steakhouse and 1/2 hours or longer in the MDR that not bother us. We not like our courses to be served right on top of one another. We also will tip graciously because I am sure it will be well deserved. I am going there with a positive attitude, but I will write my review when I get back to let you all know what I think.